Stats NZ commissioned an independent investigation to be led by Doug Craig, after it received allegations in May 2024 that census data collected by Manurewa Marae staff had been misused. The Public Service Commission later instigated a related inquiry. Both reports have been publicly released today.

Alongside Doug Craig’s report, Stats NZ has released its remediation action plan saying it wholly accepts the findings and recommendations of both reports, and is committed to addressing its shortcomings.

“It is unacceptable for people’s personal information to be misused in the way that’s been alleged, and absolutely unacceptable that we did not ensure that it could not happen,” says Stats NZ Chief Executive and Government Statistician Mark Sowden.

“To the people of Aotearoa New Zealand, I unreservedly apologise.”

The investigation found Stats NZ failed to implement the safeguards and rules for ensuring privacy is protected and data secured. These were included in the contract with Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency, to which Manurewa Marae was a sub-contractor, but were not fully enacted.

“The allegations do not call into question the validity or quality of the 2023 Census data, but this is a serious situation for New Zealand. It is clear our actions fell short of our own standards; we did not do enough to make sure people’s privacy was protected by our third-party providers, nor did we have the right processes in place to make sure concerns were appropriately escalated,” says Sowden.

“We will ensure this does not happen again and are well on track to address the recommendations of the reports.”

A programme of remediation

Stats NZ’s remediation programme includes 33 specific actions which will see improvements to its policies, systems, processes and training. The action plan is designed to:

• improve and strengthen Stats NZ’s essential assurance functions and capability including privacy, legal and risk management
• improve contract management practices, monitoring, and training
• improve conflict-of-interest policies, identification and management, particularly as they pertain to contract management and third-party providers
• establish a more proactive and accountable corporate service function across the business
• improve complaints management policies and procedures, and increase staff awareness and training
• ensure the future management of census is operated within the Stats NZ proven and well-established corporate rules and guidelines.

Stats NZ is also working closely with the Public Service Commission and other agencies to implement a range of Government-wide updates to standards, templates and guidance pertaining to information sharing, procurement and conflicts-of-interest.

New leadership for Stats NZ

This afternoon Stats NZ Chief Executive Mark Sowden announced to Stats NZ staff that he has decided not to renew his contract at the end of his current five-year fixed term.

“It’s the right time to go, for me and for Stats NZ. The misuse of data happened on my watch and although the reports do not find fault with my actions, someone needs to take responsibility.”

Sowden will finish with the agency in late March, giving time to ensure the misuse of data action plan is well on track.

“At Stats NZ we’re on the cusp of transformation, we’re doing things differently and starting to make use of different data sources and technology to deliver better value for New Zealand.

“This is important work, and my continued leadership could provide a distraction for the organisation, therefore I have decided the time is right to transition to new leadership to drive the implementation of the new approaches we have worked so hard to design,” says Sowden.

“I want to publicly thank the Stats NZ team for their unwavering commitment to delivering valuable data and insights for the benefit of Aotearoa and encourage them to keep striving to deliver value.”

Investigations continue: claims referred to other agencies

Doug Craig’s review has now been shared with other agencies who can determine liability around the misuse of census data claims.

The alleged recording of personal information into the Waipareira Trust database by Manurewa Marae staff has been referred to the Privacy Commissioner. The allegations of census data being allegedly misused for electoral purposes has been referred to the Police and Serious Fraud Office.

“The alleged misuse of census data by our third-party providers is unacceptable, clearly outside of the contract and our expectations, and we would never condone it,” says Sowden.

Stats NZ will work with the Police, Serious Fraud Office and Privacy Commission as needed to progress their investigations.

Background: The drive to lift census response rates for Māori

The 2018 Census response rates, particularly for Māori and Pacific peoples, were unacceptably low and Stats NZ made a commitment to higher response rates for the 2023 Census.

As part of this, Stats NZ partnered with Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency to lift low census response rates from Māori in south Auckland. The collection operations were led by Whānau Ora’s Te Pae Herenga o Tāmaki collective, of which Manurewa Marae is a part of.

The findings relate to the forms from around 1800 households visited by Manurewa Marae staff.

Overall, the contract resulted in an additional 40,000 census responses, which helped Aotearoa New Zealand to achieve a response rate of 77 percent for people of Māori descent.

Nationwide, approximately 4.5 million census forms were collected.

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